May reads

1. The Shock Of The Fall was this month's book group choice, and I'm looking forward to hearing what people thought of it when we meet later today. I really enjoyed this tale of Matt, a young man with schizophrenia. Author Nathan Filer is a former mental health nurse, and I thought he did an excellent job of tackling a difficult issue with humour and empathy.

2. Emma Donoghue (of Room fame)'s new novel, Frog Music, didn't immediately engage my interest, but I quickly found myself drawn into the world she created.  Based on real-life events in 1870's San Francisco, at the time a frontier town experiencing mass immigration as people from across the US and globe sought their fortune, the novel follows exotic dancer Blanche as she seeks to find out who killed her friend, the frog-catching, cross-dressing Jenny.

3. I found the ambitious structure of White Is For Witching challenging but nevertheless found myself rather enjoying it. Essentially a haunted house story, in which the house itself is doing the haunting, I enjoyed the vivid characterisation of main characters Miranda, Ore and Eliot, who leapt off the page. Creepy and spine-chilling.

4. Where'd You Go Bernadette? was a really quick but enjoyable read.  When Bee's mother, Bernadette, goes missing one Christmas it's up to Bee to put together the evidence found in emails, letters, articles and memos to discover where her mother is and - perhaps more importantly - who her mother was.

5. I became interested in Zenith Hotel after Jane wrote a glowing review recently, and when she kindly sent me her copy to read I was immediately keen to dip in. But - sorry Jane - I really didn't enjoy it. Zenith Hotel has been praised for its visceral and unflinching portrayal of prostitute Nanou and her clients, but I found it a very stereotypical view of sex workers (and the men who use them). Author Oscar Coop-Phane takes great relish in dwelling on the intimate details of Nanou's life, but I felt there was something misogynistic about his disgust in her body and her work.

6. A Single Swallow was a spur-of-the-moment purchase in a small bookshop in Brecon. Author Horatio Clare decides to try and keep pace with the swallows on their annual spring migration from South Africa to his childhood home in South Wales, and this travelogue follows him (and the birds) from Cape Town, across Namibia, Zambia, Congo-Brazzaville, Cameroon, Nigeria, Niger, Algiers, Morocco, Spain and finally France, England and Wales.  Really beautifully written, his exploration of the colonial histories and contemporary exploitation of the countries along the west coast of Africa were fascinating to read.

7. I wanted to like DIY: The Rise of Lo-Fi Culture more, but it read to me a bit like a PhD thesis with the tricksy bits taken out, and didn't really tell me anything I didn't already know about the history of fanzines, self-publishing and independent music.  Although some bits were engaging and interesting (predictably, I most enjoyed the sections on Riot Grrrl and on how crafting and DIY art came out of that scene) overall I think it would be a better read for someone who is completely new to the DIY scene.

8. A bargain find in Hay, The Reluctant Bride is Guardian columnist Lucy Mangan's account of how she was "dragged, kicking and screaming, up the aisle".  Very funny, particularly if you're familiar with Mangan's work.

And three re-reads:

9. Best Friends Forever is a typically enjoyable and easy read by Jennifer Weiner, who I praised last month too.  When Addie's former best friend Val turns up at her house late one night, covered in blood and asking for help, Addie is forced to let go of the grudge  against the girl who helped to ruin her senior year at school, and the two embark on what I believe is known in the trade as a madcap adventure.  Sounds cheesy?  It kind of is, but full of heart and warmth, it deals with the issue of date rape extremely well.

10. If you haven't yet discovered the Georgia Nicholson series, then I urge you to start at the beginning with Angus, Thongs and Full Frontal Snogging.  Laugh-out-loud funny, the adventures of Georgia are completely ludicrous and over the top but recognisable to anyone who's ever been, or known, a teenage girl.  Are These My Basoomas I See Before Me? is the last in the series, and was a welcome balm when I was very ill with a kidney infection earlier in May.

11. I re-read Fangirl for Hannah's Two-View Book Review series. You can read my (and her) thoughts here.